Simon Cowell and Mezhgan Hussainy seen together arm-in-arm

Simon Cowell is relying on his ex-fiancee Mezhgan Hussainy for moral support following the slump in ratings for his talent show The X Factor.

The 52-year-old music mogul was spotted arriving arm-in-arm with the make-up artist at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles and a source close to Cowell told The Sun they were attending a "promotional event for the US X Factor."

The source added: "They've always been close and remain on good terms."

Cowell and Hussainy split in January of this year when the brunette got sick of his competitive nature and failure to set a date for their wedding. He famously gave her a £5million mansion in Beverly Hills in compensation for being "a hopeless boyfriend".

The music mogul is said to be worried after ratings for his UK show slumped to an average of just 7.4 million on Saturday (08.09.12), a drop of 3 million since this time last year.

The show's US counterpart could also be in trouble as rival singing competition The Voice is set to go head-to-head for ratings in the same time slot.

Simon branded the decision "silly games", fuming: "It cheats the viewers. It's not going to get resolved, it is what it is.

"My opinion is that they have done this because they don't want people to watch The X Factor. Do you know what? I think it could backfire on them."